TX Report: Cutting Inmate Rehab Could Require 12,000 More Prison Beds ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the latest sign that Texas' budget woes could prove tougher than expected, a new study reported by the Austin American-Statesman warns that the state could face a shortage of as many as 12,000 prison beds within two years if it whacks corrections programs as planned. Cuts of up to $600 million over the next two years would hobble rehabilitation, probation, and treatment programs that have saved taxpayers almost that much in the past four years, the report said, and the resulting flood of Texans that would be sent to prison would quickly overwhelm the current capacity of state-run lockups. "The new costs, the big costs, that Texas is looking at will be for new prisons, more capacity," said Tony Fabelo , a national criminal justice consultant who authored an updated projection of Texas' prison needs presented to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee yesterday. "That's the headache that we avoided four years ago with a system that's working well, so far. But the projected cuts and growth are going to change that." Senate and House leaders reacted with surprise at the whopping numbers, which come after they asked prison officials to begin cutting treatment and rehabilitation programs to help the state meet a projected budget shortfall of as much as $27 billion in 2012-13 |
Wisconsin Gov. Walker Seeks To Halt Early Prison Releases ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Wisconsin program allowing some nonviolent offenders to seek early release from prison, which Republican critics derided as "catch and release," would end under Gov. Scott Walker's new budget plan, reports the Wisconsin State Journal. The program of former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle was designed to reduce ballooning prison costs by releasing up to 3,000 inmates early - most of them with significant health problems or close to completing their sentences. Just 391 inmates were released under the program from Oct. 1, 2009, to Jan. 1, 2011. Walker's budget calls for a $90.1 million cut to the $1.3 billion corrections budget next year, followed by a $26.2 million cut from current spending in fiscal year 2012-13. The department would lose 341 full-time positions from its current staffing of 10,594. Much of the job loss would be felt in juvenile corrections, which has seen a reduction in offenders for the past decade. Corrections Secretary Gary Hamblin said the department would close two juvenile facilities. The budget would provide an extra $1 million over the next two years to add 19 staff members to the Internet Crimes Against Children program, one of Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen's top initiatives. |
Texas Tells Students to Stay Alive By Avoiding Mexican Spring Break ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ College students ar getting a blunt warning from the Texas Department of Public Safety, says the Dallas Morning News: "Avoid traveling to Mexico during spring break and stay alive." The unusual admonition from director Steven McCraw was tied to worsening drug-related violence and other crimes that have moved from the border to other parts of that country. "Underestimating the violence in Mexico would be a mistake for parents and students," McCraw said. On CBS' Early Show, U.S. Rep. Ted Poe said, "Mexico is not safe for Americans or Mexican nationals, because the drug cartels are really operating at will in different portions." A year ago, his department warned only against travel to border cities. The latest alert was the agency's third in three months that advised staying totally out of Mexico. Some travel experts in Texas and Mexican tourism officials said the state was exaggerating the risk. some students said they don't plan to scrub their warm-weather trips. "I'm not going to let being scared keep me from vacation," said Grace Roberts, a junior at Southern Methodist University who will be celebrating a belated 21st birthday in Cabo San Lucas with five girlfriends. |
Weis Out As Chicago Chief; Hillard a Temporary Replacement ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ His fate sealed by the election Rahm Emanuel as mayor, Chicago police Superintendent Jody Weis abruptly stepped down after three years in office, and in a surprise, Terry Hillard, who retired as the city's top cop in 2003, was named an interim replacement, reports the Chicago Tribune. Emanuel made it clear he would name a new superintendent after he takes office May 16, but Mayor Richard Daley had wanted Weis to serve until then. The interim appointment of Hillard, 67, was unexpected. He was a low-key superintendent who served for 5 1/2 years and agreed to take a leave of absence from his security consulting business until Emanuel appoints a permanent successor. Weis, 53, an FBI veteran who became the first outsider named to head the tradition-bound department in more than 40 years, struggled to win over rank-and-file officers, but he had successes. No major scandals erupted during his reign. In his first year, violent crime spiked, but then murders fell even as staffing declined sharply. Last year, Chicago had the fewest homicides since 1965. Yet the department suffered its deadliest year in a quarter-century as six police officers were killed |
Philadelphia Chief Accuses Newspaper Of Ruining Probe Of Officer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey wanted more than officer Joseph Sulpizio's badge - he wanted the cop behind bars, locked up like a criminal. The 42-year-old narcotics cop won't face criminal charges because the Philadelphia Daily News messed up an undercover Internal Affairs investigation when it detailed allegations that Sulpizio had repeatedly stolen money from people he stopped, Ramsey said. "He will not be criminally charged because you blew the investigation," a miffed Ramsey told the newspaper . "The shame of this is that we weren't able to get him criminally because of the fact that the story ran." Ramsey fired Sulpizio yesterday for lying to Internal Affairs investigators and for having no regard for his responsibility as a cop. Sulpizio had been taken off the street twice since 2008 for allegedly stealing money from people he detained but never arrested. Long before the Daily News published a Dec. 10, 2010, article about Sulpizio, high-ranking narcotics supervisors repeatedly alerted Internal Affairs that Sulpizio might be a thief. Sulpizio has denied taking money from anyone. |
678 More Drug-Gang Arrests But Market Demand Remains Strong ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In Project Southern Tempest, the latest federal gang sweep, 678 gang members were arrested in 168 U.S. cities from Atlanta to South Salt Lake, Utah over the last two weeks, says the Christian Science Monitor. Project Southern Tempest is part of Operation Community Shield, a five-year effort that unites federal, state, and local law enforcement against gangs with ties to international drug syndicates, primarily those in Mexico. Southern Tempest notched the 20,000th arrest of the program. "A Mexican criticism that we hear is, 'Why isn't the U.S. doing more to fight the cartels north of the border?' " says David Shirk of the Transborder Institute at the University of California-San Diego. Project Southern Tempest shows that "is exactly what ICE [the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency] and other [] agencies are trying to do," he adds. The problem for ICE is that it can't control the fundamental driver of the entire equation: American demand for illegal drugs. "In the end, you can arrest people all day long, and as long as the market demand remains strong there will be new entrepreneurs who rise to satisfy that demand," Shirk says. |
CA Yet To Set Parole Hearings On Very Sick Inmates Costing $50 Million ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ California has identified 25 "permanently medically incapacitated" inmates being treated at outside hospitals who are candidates for parole because they no longer pose a threat to the public. The Los Angeles Times says taxpayers will pay more than $50 million to treat them this year, between $19 million and $21 million of that for guards' salaries, benefits, and overtime, according to he federal receiver who oversees California prison healthcare. n September, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a "medical parole" law designed to spare taxpayers the cost of guarding severely ill inmates. Some are in comas, others paraplegic. If the prisoners were released from custody, the medical costs would shift to their families if they could afford to pay, or to other government programs if they could not. The expense of guarding the patients would be eliminated. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has yet to schedule a parole hearing for even one such inmate. "It's maddening," said state Sen. Mark Leno. who sponsored the bill that Schwarzenegger signed. "We have school districts on the verge of closing" because of the state's budget crisis. "We don't have millions of dollars to squander on this kind of nonsense." An official would not predict when the first sick inmate might get a parole hearing. "These are complex public-safety regulations," she said. |
53rd CA Death Row Inmate Dies of Natural Causes; No Executions in 5 Years ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ California has 712 prisoners on death row at San Quentin Prison. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978, California has executed 13 prisoners, while 53 have died of disease, old age, or other natural reasons. Another 18 have committed suicide. The latest to die was robber-murderer Richard Parson, who succumbed to natural causes this week. Executions have been on hiatus in the state since 2006 while a federal judge assesses whether the lethal injection method is humane. The last person to die on the injection gurney was Clarence Ray Allen, 76, in 2006. Parson, 67, was sent to death row from Sacramento County in 1996 for robbing and killing a nurse, 59, by beating her with a hammer. |
DEA Joins 16 States In Banning "Fake Pot" As Health Threat ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has joined 16 states in banning "fake pot" substances, which use chemicals to replicate the effects of marijuana. Those substances had been in a legal limbo, with many states lacking laws to deal with them, says NPR. DEA says the chemicals have provoked reactions that include seizures and hallucinations, and that they pose a threat to public health and safety. The five federally banned substances drug agency are JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-200, CP-47,497, and cannabicyclohexanol. Clemson University chemistry Prof. John Huffman helped to create one of the first and most famous of the cannabinoids in the 1990s, when he was conducting research on possible medical applications of marijuana. Despite the the new ban, it seems likely that some manufacturers will try to adapt their formulas so they include cannabinoid chemicals other than the five banned this week. |
NYC Making Jail Fixes After Increase Reported In Inmates' Makeshift Weapons ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An increase in makeshift weapons discovered in New York City jails last year has prompted officials to begin demolishing 4,000 jail beds and removing metal covers from old-style heating radiators that inmates were turning into razors, picks, and knives, reports the Wall Street Journal. Correction officers found 651 weapons at six jails between last July 1 and Oct. 31, compared to the 378 seized during the same time period in 2009, said a report on the performance of city agencies for the first four months of this fiscal year. |
OH Vows Review Of DNA-Sample Processing After Contamination Reports ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The head of Ohio's state crime lab is promising a "top to bottom" review of the way its technicians process DNA samples, reports WBNS10-TV in Columbus. Thomas Stickrath, new superintendent of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation, which operates the lab, says evidence in some recent cases might have been mishandled. "I think folks could have been more careful," Stickrath told WBNS-TV (Channel 10). Yesterday, the TV station reported on its investigation that turned up dozens of cases in which DNA evidence was contaminated while in the lab's possession - sometimes, it appears, with DNA from technicians who handled the samples. Lab officials acknowledge some contamination but downplay its significance. In the past four years, the lab identified 46 instances in which a batch of DNA was contaminated, said Liz Benzinger, DNA quality-assurance administrator for the bureau. The affected DNA had a potential bearing on 106 cases. During that time, the lab tested 28,618 samples, so contamination occurred in about 1 percent of the cases. "Even if it happens only once a year, that's something that really needs to be remedied," said Dan Krane, a biological-sciences professor at Wright State University and founder of Forensic Bioinformatics, which reviews DNA test results from hundreds of court cases around the world each year. |
8-Year Old Child Abuse Dispute May Not Survive Supreme Court Test ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Supreme Court may throw out a dispute over interviewing children at school about child abuse because the case has been in court so long that the girl involved no longer will be affected by the outcome. The case involves an Oregon girl identified as S.G. who was nine when she was interviewed by a child protection worker - while an armed police officer sat silently in the room -- about alleged abuse by her father, reports Youth Today. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit said the interrogation was unconstitutional. At oral argument yesterday, Justice Antonin Scalia said the girl now "doesn't care what happens. She's moved, she is 17 years old." Justices' questions indicated some skepticism about how to provide clarity on how non-school officials should proceed in child welfare cases. In three weeks, the high court is due to hear a North Carolina case of a disabled teen who was interrogated by police at school without being advised of his rights. The court will focus on what constitutes being "in custody" on school grounds. |
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Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Articles for 2 March 2011
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